sound is awful, had to turn it off after 5 minutes. looks like another jem from dennis!

Luke,

I'm surprised you had to turn it off because of the sound. I thought the sound was fine overall, although you're right that the sound was a little erratic from about 4:30 to 5:30 or so. Was anybody else having problems?

awesome!

(and the sound quality was fine except for that little blurb from somewhere between the 3-5 min. mark)

Another great lecture. Congrats on the outcome!

The lines after 41. Ke8 Qxd7+ 42. Kxd7 b2 43. Ke6 are really amazing; I thought I found a winning resource for Black but Fritz deviated with White and found the draw. Maybe something like the following could be a study?:

White to play and draw
W: Ke7, Rg1, Pa2,d6,g6
B: Kg8, Qh3, Pa6,b3,c5,e5,f6,g2
(Key move: 1. d7)

The lines with dxc6+ are fascinating. It's amazing how much play you have, and it would've been great if your king had been on g2. I especially liked the rook vs. knight ending.

I can't believe black's key idea in those dxc6+ lines is ...c3. Amazing!

I also really enjoyed the lines where you got in Kc7 and black had two queens. I couldn't believe how much play you had. It was a shame to see that ...Qa5+, instead of ...b4, is still winning for black.

That really was a crazy game. Incredible variations throughout.

Thanks, DDD. Your study suggestion might be more interesting than you know. After 1.d7 Qxd7+ (1...Qd3 is worse; details available on request to those who have tried to work it out but think Black is OK) 2.Kxd7 and now there's a parting of the ways:

(1) 2...bxa2. This loses! 3.Ke6 Kg7 4.Kf5 (4.Kd5 may also win) c4 5.Rd1! e4 6.Rg1! e3 7.Ke4 e2 8.Kf3 and White's king rounds up the e- and g-pawns, freeing the rook to vaporize Black's queenside.

(2) 2...b2! White continues in familiar style and makes a queen; but it's only good for a draw! 3.Ke6 Kg7 4.Kf5 c4 5.Rd1 c3 6.Rd7+ Kf8 7.g7+ Ke8 8.g8Q+ Kxd7 9.Qd5+ Kc7 10.Qd1 Kb8 and I don't think White can win this.

As for the actual game, you were right with respect to the Reti idea but Fritz was right overall: after 41.Ke8 Qxd7+ 42.Kxd7 b2 43.Ke6 Kg7 44.Kd5 (mentioned during the video) and now 44...f5 I can't round up all the little aliens fast enough, e.g. 45.Kxe5 c4 46.Kd4 f4 47.Kxc4 f3 (or 47.Ke4 c3) and wins. However, 44.Kf5 draws in the way already mentioned: 44...c4 45.Rd1 c3 46.Rd7+ Kf8 47.g7+ Ke8 48.g8Q+ Kd7 49.Qd5+ Kc7 50.Qd1 Kb8 and White can't make progress.

Unfortunately, this is all refuted at the beginning. After 41.Ke8, Black need only gain a tempo before entering the pawns vs. rook ending, and 41...Qb8+, which I wrongly dismissed during the video, does indeed gain that tempo and win. This looks like the relevant main line: 42.d8Q Qxd8+ 43.Kxd8 b2 44.Ke7 Kg7 45.Ke6 c4 46.Kf5 c3 47.Rd1 g1Q! 48.Rxg1 c2 and wins.

You are one brave man!

Wow, that was truly worth waiting for , I´m amazed.

cool to hear all your crazy ideas! this is def. not the last time I have watched this video:)
So much to learn.

Thanks again.

Indeed, I found 44...f5 and figured I'd check it with Fritz before posting a comment. I entered the game moves, entered the moves 41.Ke8 Qxd7+ 42.Kxd7 b2 43.Ke6 Kg7 (Fritz kept printing "= (0.00)") and on entering 44. Kd5 Fritz immediately pointed out ("-+ (-5.36) f5"). I was very surprised to see that 44. Kd5? was a losing move; I thought it was forced!

In the study I couldn't find a win after 10. Qd1 either. I experimented for about 10-20 minutes with the position and realized unless White takes c3 or g2 with check (which he can't), he has nothing. If only 41...Qxd7 were forced (in the game), this would be a very interesting finish!

I couldn't believe that 23.dxc6 wasn't best (so I used Fritz to help me examine your analysis). In the main (24...c3) line you mentioned that the problem is that Black gets to take c3 with check (and so 33.Kh4? Kf8 is 0-1). However I think 33.Kh2, no matter how badly it exposes White's king, holds the draw -- as long as White's king stays on g3/h3/h2 during the barrage of checks, White should be safe.
You were also right to reject 24...Kf8 25.Rxd6 since (a) 25...Rh2+ 26. Kg3 Rxc2 transposes and (b) other Black 25th moves like 25...Qa7+ 26. Kg2 Ke8 27. Re6+ Kd8 28. Rd6+ Kc8 29. Rd7 Qe3 30. Nd6+ Kb8 31. c7 Ka8 32. Rd8+ Ka7 don't win for either side.

I really enjoyed this vid Dennis! Thanks for posting and I too live in Indiana as well and attend the Elkhart Chess Club on Tuesdays. I hope to meet you sometime and learn as well if you have the time. I hope to see your games from the Mishawaka Tournament soon as well, along with your tactical commentary.

HI 1zugzwang! I haven't been to the Elkhart club since the 2004 club championship, but maybe some time in the new year, after I come back from vacation. Of course, you can always come to visit in South Bend! As for the Mishawaka tournament, the second seed was almost 400 points lower-rated and the third seed almost 600 points down, so it would be a little unsporting to make an example of them!

Never give in, never, never! As Winston Churchil once said. Great stuff! It is inspiring how there are nearly always rsources in any position. Quite a coup drawing that game. Fun from start to finish. Please keep up the good work.

Incredible game -I really enjoyed it - I'd love to see the score of the games by Denis.

A wonderfully cheeky game, with an even cheekier finish Great entertainment.